Bilateral Political Relations

The relations between India and Bulgaria are longstanding, warm and
friendly. The two countries which happen to be ancient civilizations are proud of
their glorious cultural heritage. People to people contacts and cultural links
between the two countries pre-date the establishment of diplomatic relations in
1954 and there are traces of contacts between the peoples of the two countries
as early as the 8th Century AD.

Bilateral high-level visits include that by Vice-President Dr. S.
Radhakrishnan (1954), PM Indira Gandhi (1967), President V.V. Giri (1976),
President Sanjiva Reddy (1980), PM Indira Gandhi (1981), Vice President R.
Venkataraman (1985), President S. D. Sharma (1994), Vice President Krishan
Kant (2000) and President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2003). From the Bulgarian
side, their Presidents visited India in 1976, 1983 and 1998, and Prime Ministers
in 1974 and 1980 and 2007.

Despite political changes witnessed by the two countries in the last six
decades, India and Bulgaria, as two independent nation-States have developed
a close, cordial and multi-dimensional relationship. The multi-faceted
relationship has flourished based on continuity and mutual understanding and
has progressively evolved into a binding friendship.